Prospect Watch: Heavyweight Derrick Lewis knockouts former Oklahoma State All American Jared Rosholt at LFC 13

August 20, 2012

Everything is bigger in Texas. The Legacy Fighting Championship were able to pull off a major coup when they were able to land two legitimate heavyweight prospects to headline their 13th event. In the main event of LFC 13 Houston area big man Derrick Lewis (8-2) stepped in versus rising prospect Jared Rosholt (4-1).

In a striker versus wrestler style match-up Rosholt dominated much of the first two rounds with successful takedown attempts and a handful of near submissions that wore on Lewis. Round one saw Rosholt smother Lewis with top control and almost end the fight with a north-south choke in the first two minutes of the fight. The 2010 NCAA heavyweight runner up out of Oklahoma State, Rosholt spent the majority of round one on top and came close with a keylock attempt before the end of the opening round.

Round two followed the same script with Rosholt staying consistent with his takedown attempts. On top Rosholt threatened with subs but never was able to land a significant amount of strikes to the downed Lewis. After a arm triangle submission attempt from Rosholt and another takedown, Lewis was able to force the referee to restart the fight on the feet.

With one minute to go in round two Lewis put his stand-up game into another gear. A barrage of uppercuts from Lewis put Rosholt on his heels. Lewis, who competed once on a Bellator untelevised undercard, pressured the visibly tired and dazed Rosholt with punching combinations. The comeback for Lewis was completed with a pair of right straight punches that connected with Rosholt's unprotected chin.

Lewis finished off Rosholt with a clean left hand that sent the 265 pound heavyweight crashing to the canvas. The referee immediately stopped the bout and awarded Lewis the knockout win at the 4:49 mark of round two. With the win Lewis moves to 4-0-1 in his last five fights and the KO was the Texan's eighth overall by stoppage.

For the 27 year old Lewis the comeback victory was the biggest of his two year pro career. At 6'3 and 250 pounds plus Lewis deserves a permanent spot on the lower rungs of the UFC or maybe even a Bellator eight man tourney. With knockout power in both hands and an exciting style Lewis could make noise if given the opportunity to compete in one of MMA's major leagues.

Prior to the win over Rosholt, Lewis was slotted as the number 15 best heavyweight prospect by ULTMMA.com. The victory proves that Lewis is one of the more talented heavyweights not signed to the UFC or Bellator and his improved grappling defense should earn him a shot with one of those two promotions by the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013.

At 26 years of age and with grappling credits that include a three time All American stint in college, Rosholt remains a four star heavyweight prospect. In MMA the heavyweight division is thin and big naturally athletic giants like Rosholt do not grow on trees. The potential for Rosholt to blossom into a staple of the MMA heavyweight scene is still there.

With the correct MMA gym and management team behind him in the form of Team Takedown, Rosholt should continue to use his next two to three fights on the regional scene to round out his game before making a push to the MMA big leagues sometime in 2013. Rosholt is the number two ranked heavyweight prospect in MMA according to ULTMMA.com's 2012 unsigned fighter rankings.

The former Oklahoma State Cowboy also cracks the ULTMMA50, a pound for pound prospect top 50, at number 37.

Legacy Fighting Championship 13 results
Dallas, TX

*Derrick Lewis def. *Jared Rosholt via knockout (punches) 4:49 R2
*Sean Spencer def. *Evan Cutts by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Chris Tickle def. Douglas Frey via TKO (punches) 1:03 R1
Clayton Robinson def. Donnie Bell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Steven Peterson def. Matt Hobar via TKO (injury) 4:04 R1
Hayward Charles def. Russell Brewer via submission armbar 0:56 R1
Ryan Benoit def. Randy Villarreal via TKO (punches) 1:35 R1

*Prospect to watch